I have read since I was very small, and loved being read to as a child.
But lately I have lost my ability to engage with a good read. Well not really lost it but I can't find a book that has pulled me in. I have tried everything but nothing seems to grab me. I asked all my friends what they would recommend. I asked in book shops and libraries.
I love crime but I am after another Wallander - who can go past the stark landscape and deliciously human characters, oh I love how flawed Kurt is. His life is a mess but his brain solves crimes in an around his personal chaos. I so appreciate that his imperfections are real not excused and not something being done to him, as in so much American fiction.
I want a book like Sacred Games or Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell but both of these I just stumbled upon and they were a slow build and such an engaging read.
Cloud Atlas and A Suitable Boy have been recommended.
do you have any ideas?
p.s knitting news I have my Solstice on today - and I think the sleeves need to be longer - I will workshop this tonight at Morris and Sons knitting group and let you know the verdict tomorrow
4 comments:
Cloud Atlas is excellent. I'd lend it to you but I think I already lent it to Eileen!
Have you ever read American Gods by Neil Gaiman? A couple of us have read it. Long and absorbing.
oh i have read lots of good stuff lately. i love jonathon strange, not found anything else quite like it, but i just finished The Passage by Justin Cronin, very good. and reading now Jonathon Franzens new one, Freedom. very engaging. did you know there are now Linda Wallander books? i saw some in borders, but i couldnt work out the order, and you have to start at the beginning. i need to read more kurt.
A Suitable Boy is good - definitely a slow build - diesn't get really good until about the last 100 pages, and it's over 900 pages long!! I can loan it to you if you want.
Have you read Midnight's Children, it's excellent (can also loan you that).
I usually retreat to the classics - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre and To Kill a Mockingbird.
What about The Lovely Bones? Or Prep (bit of a light read, that one). Or Number One Ladies Detective Agency books, nice light reads.
I have lots of the Wallender books and would be happy to lend you some you haven't read. A bit in the same vein is Arnulder Indridason, an Icelandic crime writer - the settings are most engaging. Have you tried Kate Atkinson? My book group and I all dote on her novels. She's English and writes sort of crime fiction; a little bit quirky but not twee. She writes beautifully and all her books are very much set in current reality. Some of the titles - 'Case Histories', 'One Good Turn', 'When Will There be Good News?', and the most recent - 'Started Early, Took My Dog'.
Post a Comment